Chapter 1

Leo checked the other boy's hand for the second time and did the same to his other hand. He shut his eyes close, reopened them and had yet found the red string that was supposed to be there. He was confused and maybe a little bit relieved that he was not the only one (sort of). Leo remembered that he asked his mother once, 'Umma, why don't I have a red string on my little finger like yours?' He thought that it was normal for everyone to have red strings attached on their pinky fingers so he had not asked before.

The woman was obviously lost with what her youngest child was asking her, but she smiled at him. 'What do you mean, Taekwoon? What red string?' She then lifted both of her hands and splayed her fingers on the air for her son to see. 'There are no strings attached to any of my fingers!'

Leo only blinked and rubbed his eyes over and over but those simple things did not work and change a thing. The red string was still there on his mother's finger. He then took her hand and examined the 'mythical' red string wrapped around her lithe pinky finger. Leo curiously tugged at the red string and discovered that he was not able to grasp it. So he stood up from his seat to follow where the other end of the red string was. Leo stopped when his father opened the door of his office and came out. 'Oh!' He said unbelievably loud. 'It's connected to Appa's! Umma, the red string on your hand led me to Appa!' He exclaimed.

His father was as equally baffled as his mother was when she came up behind Leo. 'What is Taekwoon talking about?' The man questioned his wife. She shrugged, as she still had not figured out what Leo was trying to tell them. Unmoved, the boy carried on staring at the red string that linked his parents –

Leo was shaken out of his thoughts when N patted his soft cheeks. "Are you okay?" The other inquired, a worried look all over his face. "Did I hurt you in any way? Leoooo~ Please be okay! I don't want to get in trouble!"

The boy furrowed his eyebrows in the hopes that N would get the idea that he did want to be bothered even if the latter was slightly... dense. "I'm okay. Don't... Don't touch me..." Leo told him through gritted teeth. N paused for a second before he then let go of his grip on the boy. "I'm really sorry, Leo-yah. I just wanted us to be friends..."

"Why?" Leo hissed.

The other boy pursed his lips, thinking over in his head what the best reason was to tell Leo. "Um... I just wanted to be friends with you and know more about you! It doesn't seem like you're a mean person because I saw you playing with some kittens at the back of our school once and I thought that that was the first time that I saw you smile! You were really beautiful, Leo! Not that you're not beautiful now but you're 10 times more beautiful when you're smiling!" When N finally finished his small speech, he glanced at the boy. Leo had hidden his face behind his hands but N was still able to discern that Leo's cheeks were flushed with the way his usually pale ears turned red. "Awwww~ There's no need to be shy, Leo! There's nothing wrong with liking kittens or animals even if you normally look like you could kill someone and –"

Leo extended his hand towards where the other boy was to chop his neck. N avoided it easily though, and giggled. "It's true! It's true! You seem like someone who could kill anyone just by looking at them! I have to admit that I was scared to talk to you at first. But when I saw you that one rainy day, I just... I felt like wanting to be friends with you, Leo~ I hope that you're feeling the same –"

"No," The boy intercepted. "I don't want to be friends with you. Especially if it's you."

N gasped and his face spelled disappointment and sadness that made Leo feel pangs o